GTKY-Wednesday 2/24

LJMoon6 · February 2021

What was the best vacation you ever took and why?

LJMoon6 · February 2021

Oh man, it’s so hard to pick just one!!!! Every single one of the trips I’ve taken holds my heart in one way or another. But if I had to pick it would be the January I spent in Costa Rica. I was single for once and just so care free. It was beautiful down there. Spent the whole time snorkeling or hiking through the rainforest. We traveled around the whole country and went to so many botanical gardens and other touristy places. Just overall amazing.

pajamstagrams · February 2021

@LJMoon6 I've never been to Costa Rica, but it's on my bucket list! Do they have good diving?

Hmmm I'd say maybe one of the European cruises we've taken in the last 10 years? I love getting to see different parts of the world, and a cruise is actually a pretty easy way to do it. I've done the backpacking/hostel thing, and group bus tour thing too, and definitely have no desire to do those again. For me, I'm not a cheap traveller. If I go on vacation, I'm willing to spend $$ to eat good food, see cool things, and stay in hotels (with HVAC and a private bathroom). When I was in college/right out of college, my travel companions sometimes a different budget than me so it was kind of frustrating sometimes to not be able to do things because of cost. (Understandable while in college!) So traveling with DH on the cruises was nice because we're similarly opinioned, and we had a few years salary under our belts 😊

Also, UO Wednesday, but because this relates to me being more of an "experience" person... souvenirs are stupid (like the cheap trinkets type). I haaaated having to wait for people to buy t shirts/magnets/coffee mugs at every new place. I usually only being back items I can use frequently at home (leather goods like a jacket or wallet), or something that is specifically unique to the place I went, that's small enough to display.

fifilala516 · February 2021

I have been on exactly 1 cruise and I loved it - I'd love to go again...maybe in a post-Covid world.

Our trip to Greece was pretty magical. We had planned on going for DH's 30th, but got engaged two weeks beforehand, so I sort of co-opted it to be our engagement trip.

Also, our Disney World honeymoon was just *chef's kiss.*

Lisa3379 · February 2021

Oh man, that's really tough. A few years ago we went to Europe for a few weeks and that was pretty awesome - Paris, Normandy (I'm a serious WWII history buff), Koln, Hamburg, and Munich (we love Germany). It was also the first time I was in Europe in summer (I've gone in winter a few times) so that was neat.

@pajamstagrams I also hate souvenirs. I always feel some sort of pressure to buy something to commemorate the trip and it's just annoying.

fameonmain2 · February 2021

This is a tough one! DH and I had a pretty magical honeymoon (Spain + Portugal) - we saw and did all the things!! But also we went to Ireland last year in February and it was another magical trip. We talk about it more because it was more recent but also because everything shut down due to the pandemic 3 weeks later so it was like our last big getaway.

We've also done a ton of road tripping and domestic travel which is special to us but definitely different than going overseas.

And I guess my early UO is that I love souvenirs... I like glancing at a coffee mug or magnet and getting instant memories of our favorite places

chgilmore · February 2021

@pajamstagrams I too like to splurge on vacation. And while I dislike meaningless souvenirs (gifts for family are usually food-based), we do have a magnet collection on our fridge from all of our favorite trips. It just kind of started by accident; now we can't stop but it's kind of fun to go somewhere and look for "the perfect magnet" to signify the trip.

Our favorite vacation was a 2 and a half week Spain (because DH wanted to practice his Spanish and we are thinking of moving there one day) and Italy (read: Sicily and Naples/Pompeii - my mom's family is Sicilian and I'd never been to where they were from) self-guided tour, where DH and I spent half the time in Madrid and the next half driving around Sicily in a rental car. This was a relatively spur of the moment trip I planned with less than 6 weeks notice and we departed to in August of 2019 - very glad we took the plunge now! TL;DR - I got severely ill with food poisoning and a UTI in Spain that carried into Sicily, our rental car was stolen at the last stop of our trip under suspicious circumstances, and I had the best time EVER (relaxing Turkish baths in Madrid, lovely food, the best company, finally getting to see POMPEII - one of my bucket list hits). The magnets we chose: churros and hot chocolate (Madrid) and Sicilian Cassata cake (Italy).

.....I really want to travel again

sammygirl18 · February 2021

I would love to take a European cruise some day...maybe. If I can ever get over the poor cruisers stuck when rona first hit. The thought of being stuck in the cabin now terrifies me. I don’t know if I could ever do an inside cabin again! We cruised around Hawaii, which was fun!

We got married in Aruba, so I’ll have to say that was my favorite vacation.

I’m also not a souvenir person. I’d much rather keep the memories and save my money for more vacation!

It cracks me up a bit when people bring back souvenirs for others. The thought is nice but you really don’t have the same effect if you did actually visit!

LJMoon6 · February 2021

@pajamstagrams We didn’t do any diving in Costa Rica but I’m sure it’s amazing. I want to do a European cruise sooooo badly! I’m afraid to be the youngest person on the cruise though lol. I feel like it would be the perfect way to travel around, see a bunch of new places, without having to change hotel rooms and lug your bags around everywhere. (also don’t like souvenirs. I also went through a faze of not taking any pictures lol. I wanted to be more in the moment. Looking back, I regret that one lol. There are some trips where I don’t have a single picture)

@fifilala516 Greece sounds amazing! I’ve been wanting to go for a long time.

@Lisa3379 I’ve never been to Germany, even though I’ve been to most of the countries surrounding it lol. I’ve always wanted to go, since I’m mostly German.

@fameonmain2 Portugal has been on my list for a while! It looks so beautiful!!!!!!! We went to Ireland too and that was also a very amazing trip. It was out big trip before we started TTC. I wanted MH to experience Europe.

@chgilmore Holy shit, that sounds like a wild trip! I’m the same way though. I don’t mind if things don’t go the way we planned. It makes for great memories and fun stories to tell people later lol. Pompeii is another one I would love to go to one day.

@sammygirl18 I hear you about the cruise ships! My friends want to do a girls trip next year and I had suggested a cruise. Then it all dawned on me. We have no idea when things will go back to “normal” and even then, will I ever feel safe on a cruise again!? But damn. Married in Aruba!? That sounds so cool! We almost did a destination wedding… I really wish we would have followed through.

Dang… so many places I want to see lol.

pajamstagrams · February 2021

@LJMoon6 yeah we were definitely some of the youngest people on our cruise (we were mid 20s the first time) which was totally fine by us. We picked a nicer cruise line, which usually means an older aged crowd.

fameonmain2 · February 2021

@LJMoon6 go to Portugal!! My family is from there so we go a lot (pre-pandemic, anyways). It’s a hidden gem (both the mainland and the islands) and much cheaper than other European countries.

inthewoods23 · February 2021

Hmmmm for me it's kind of a toss up between the Alaska cruise that was with my family + some extended family (DH was not with us) and our honeymoon to Iceland. Like @pajamstagrams we kind of went all out with our honeymoon because hey, who knows if we'll ever get to visit again so why not make the most of it. Let me tell you, the $150-ish lobster dinner with lobster bisque was 100% worth it. SOOOO good. We had some kind of fish soup 4 times over the course of our 10 days there. If you asked me right now I'd pick a trip to Iceland over Alaska though. It was so peaceful and quiet and I did not get enough time in the geothermal spa back then.

I'd love to go with DH on another Alaska cruise because the weather is totally up his alley - cool temps, often overcast. Also trees and the train in Skagway

. However, we watch a documentary video over the weekend on the Costa Concordia disaster that happened back in 2012 and DH turned to me and said "this is why I don't want to go on a cruise with you.". He's not a fan of crowds or loud atmosphere. He prefers darkness over bright light but a pitch black cabin to sleep in isn't appealing enough to sway him to want to plan a cruise vacation.

Maybe someday though.

anniemarie887 · February 2021

Hi all! I intro’Ed in the newbie thread the other week and then went MIA between weather and work drama!

All of these trips are making me miss travel so badly. My BFF from college lived in Australia for a decade after we graduated and getting to spend two weeks visiting her and explore a bit of Aus is probably at my top, closely tied with going to London for a weekend to see Adele perform. Totally different trips, different lengths, but amazing once in a lifetime experiences.

bows22 · February 2021

4ish years ago DH and I had a trip planned to stay at a Sandals resort. 10 days before we left the resort announced they were closing. We were able to transfer to a different Sandals resort but a few days later the new island we were going to had their first Zika cases. We were able to get our money back from Sandals and Delta let us change our flights, so we spent a weekend in San Francisco and then 5 days in Sonoma. We bought a book and made a loose plan on the plane, and then just went with the flow! It was a great trip anyway but the whirlwind of how it came about makes it even more special to remember!

bumblebee0210 · February 2021

This GTKY is borderline painful to read given the current restrictions, but it's giving me ideas for future!

My best trip was to Japan-- we went to Tokyo, Kyoto, and took a road trip out to the west coast and through the mountains. It was so beautiful and we ate so much good food. We stayed in one incredible onsen ryoken (natural hot springs inn), and one that was "legendary" but smelled so much of rotten eggs we had to leave early and ended up in Magome which is a beautiful old small town on the post road. I would love to go back.

KNB1027 · February 2021

@inthewoods23 Oooh Iceland!! I talk to DH about going there all the time - the hot springs, Northern lights and ponies all call to me!

@pajamstagrams I have always wanted to go on a cruise but now am slightly terrified of getting stuck! I'm so glad it was such a lovely experience.

One of my most favorite places was Maine - we went there for our honeymoon and drove from Portland to Bar Harbor stopping at all of the tiny towns and staying at B&Bs along the way. I love the rocky coasts and collecting sea glass, and the smell of balsam, and popovers at Jordan's Pond.

I'd go live there in a heartbeat if I could get DH to agree.

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